Many of the medical care garments and products, protective wear garments, mortuary and veterinary products, and personal care products in use today are partially or wholly constructed of extruded filamentary or fibrous web materials such as nonwoven web materials. Examples of such products include, but are not limited to, medical and health care products such as surgical drapes, gowns and bandages, protective workwear garments such as coveralls and lab coats, and infant, child and adult personal care absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants, disposable swimwear, incontinence garments and pads, sanitary napkins, wipes and the like. Other uses for nonwoven web materials include geotextiles and house wrap materials. For these applications nonwoven web materials provide functional, tactile, comfort and/or aesthetic properties that can approach or even exceed those of traditional woven textiles or knitted cloth materials.
The size, composition and shape of the fibers in the nonwoven web have a significant impact on the functional, tactile, comfort and/or aesthetic properties and there is a continuing need for efficient fiber extrusion apparatus and methods which offer the ability to produce nonwoven webs having a plurality of fiber types and thus a plurality of types of physical properties.